Although at one point in the film I was hating it, by the end I was entirely under its spell. Von Trier is serious, meditative in Melancholia. It´s certainly his most serious film in a while and you don´t get the
sense that he is manipulating or mocking the audience as he usually
does. It feels like he is passionate about his material here, possibly
because it´s a movie about depression and Von Trier has said openly that
he battles depression himself.
Divided
into two halves - one following Kirtsen Dunst through her wedding
reception, one following her sister Charlotte Gainsbourg as it dawns on
her that a rogue planet (called, you guessed it, Melancholia) is going
to collide with Earth - the film is a meditative, haunting and
ultimately devastating work that fearlessly reflects on the meaning of
it all.
Key to its success is a stunning performance by Dunst
(who has also talked publicly about suffering from depression), a
beautiful, successful young advertising executive who is chronically
depressed and senses the impending end of the world. Dunst´s face says
everything (which is a good job since some of the dialogue is awful), as
she veers from extreme happiness to despair and finally a quiet
strength in the face of inevitable nothingness. Dunst´s star is reborn
here and she is an immediate contender for the best actress award at
Cannes.
Von Trier also reminds us what a visual master he is,
and the use of beautiful imagery here to illustrate his theme from the
gorgeous prologue (accompanied by music from Wagner´s Tristan And Isolde) to the final astonishing moments are even more effective than Terrence Malick´s The Tree Of Life.
Memorable
and hilarious in a small role is Udo Kier as the wedding planner who
refuses to look at Dunst after she disturbs the order of the day,
shielding his eyes every time she comes into his line of vision.